The Englewood Report quartet had not planned to weigh in on the competition for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination.  However, the recent appearance of Hillary Clinton with BCDO Chairman Joe Ferriero has given the primary race a decidedly local dimension.

While all four of us are impressed with John Edwards' message and persona, we do not think it likely that Mr. Edwards will garner the support of enough Democrats to win the nomination.  We hope, however, that his message strongly influences the Democratic Party Platform.

Barack Obama has distinguished himself as a candidate and campaigner.  And he offers more than a unifying message. His specific foreign and domestic policy positions well inform his goal of "change."  As well, Senator Obama has the personal judgment, intelligence and charisma that may present itself only once in a generation. The ER team observes that so-called Washington and foreign policy "experience" has been oversold as a virtue.  After all, if "experience" were the dispositive quality in leadership, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd would be the candidates and Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz would be successes.

The Englewood Report endorses Senator Barack Obama. In our view, he is the best candidate in a strong field.

The Board of Education has unanimously appointed Dr. Richard Segall as interim Superintendent. A 22-year veteran of our public school system, Dr. Segall will take over the duties of former Superintendent Carol Lisa while the Board conducts a search for her permanent replacement. Dr. Segall has put his name forward as an applicant for the Superintendent position.

The Englewood Report takes this opportunity to interview Dr. Segall and ask him about the state of our schools and his plan of action as interim Superintendent.

ER: Dr. Segall, what positions have you held in the Englewood School District over your 22 years?

RS: I've been the principal of every one of Englewood's schools, the interim director of special education, served as the main grant writer, and lead the creation of the AVID program. Most recently, I was the assistant superintendent for school operations.

ER: What is the state of our school district?

RS: The district has come very far in the last 5 years. We have made major strides in fostering unity on our high school campus while raising academic quality. Students are interacting more and sharing more classes together. The honors program serves all Dwight Morrow and Academies students who meet eligibility standards. We have one set of teams and higher academic standards for participation in all teams. So, we are working hard for continued improvement in both perception and reality of unity and excellence on campus. This year there are six small learning communities at the high school that offer specialized programs that will rival those in the Academies.

The middle school has made substantial progress in meeting NCLB standards for all students and creating a learning environment that works. It is real pleasure to walk though that school and see learning taking place with very interested students.

At the elementary schools we have one of the top rated Reading First Programs in the state that builds on the wonderful work begun in the Pre-Kindergarten Program.

ER: As Superintendent, what is your "wish list"?

RS: First, I would like to see the district make the same strides it has in Reading and Writing in the area of Mathematics. Math skills are critically important for competitive colleges and high paying jobs.

Second, I would like to see students actively engaged in learning in every classroom and every grade. Passive learners are not prepared for college or the workplace. Engaged learning means more student projects, student conversation, student writing, and student presentations. It requires teachers to work differently. They need to stop "delivering" information to the students and teach the students how to acquire it. When this happens the students will remember it longer and be able to use it in new situations. Best of all, engaged students develop a passion for learning.

ER: What are the problems you face?

RS: State funding is a major concern, and not just the new State Aid formula. The district's renewal has been funded in many ways and we need these to continue. Another issue is the ending of the management relationship with Bergen Tech. We have learned a lot from them, especially their optimistic approach to school improvement and expectation for reasonable funding. We believe we are ready for the change.

The major issue, however, is the challenge of making high academic success a reality for all children. The district now has high quality programs Pre-K through 12 for student ready to participate in them. We have the AVID program grades 6-12 to help the next level of students to aspire to and succeed in honors and AP classes. Our special education program has increased the academic rigor expected of the students and they are rising to the challenge. We cannot be satisfied until the improvements appear across the board and in every program.

ER: What would you like the citizens and students of Englewood to know about their schools?

RS: Excellence should be available to every child. It is the job of each student, the schools and the community to make it a reality. Minimum skills are not good enough.

ER: Thank you, Dr. Segall. We plan to come back to you in June to see how things are going.

During the time that I campaigned and all sorts of Englewood political insiders complained about party boss Joe Ferriero, I reserved judgment. Although there were clear indications that he helped my opponent to regain his Fourth Ward Council seat and continue the duo's quest to pimp those portions of the Fourth Ward that developers haven't yet been permitted to pillage, I maintained my stance that I did not have enough information to take any position for or against Mr. Ferriero. After all, as an academic, I have been trained to suspend judgment and analyze facts.

Now, however, the proverbial shit has hit the fan and I am damned mad. I was incredulous when I first read that Mr. Ferriero had decided to nominate Rev. Vernon Walton to fill Connie Wagner's now vacant Bergen County Freeholder slot. My disbelief had very little to do with the facts that Reverend Walton had accomplished the politically unheard of (in losing his Council-at-Large seat to Gordon Johnson--as an incumbent—only to later be considered for freeholder) or that the other frontrunner was Zonnie Lesane, a Black female who ran for the General Assembly (Democratic Line) in District 40 and received 16% of the vote.

That which incensed me most was the message that Mr. Ferriero has sent to Black Democrats. That message is that He can single handedly select our leaders for us and there's nothing we can do about it. The cajones here are unbelievable. Does Mr. Ferriero have so little respect for the Black community that he seriously believes he can "give" us our first Black freeholder and garner our vote? Does he believe that all of us are so blinded by the title "Reverend" that he merely needs to put a Black face with the title before us and he can count on our unswerving devotion? Does he believe that the majority of us have failed to learn lessons of the past, such as those taught by awesome teachers like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall through venerable quotes like, "My father told me there's no difference between a black snake and a white snake. They both bite"?

Did Mr. Ferriero forget or ever know the potency of these lessons or the tremendous impact they've had? Lessons such as these, in addition to my own life experience, have emboldened this citizen to move past using my vote and participation in the democratic process to uphold mere symbols of racial and/or gender equality, instead I choose substance. What is the substance of a particular candidate/nominee's message? Is that message prophetic and geared toward the common good or not? What has the candidate/nominee accomplished and how have those accomplishments positively impacted the Black community? I also find it ironic that Mr. Ferriero, the head of the Bergen County Democratic Organization, would deny me my right to fully participate in the selection of a person to fill this vacancy, by naming his choice in a most undemocratic fashion.

The term "Reverend" used to mean something (especially during the Civil Rights era) when many Black ministers were led by a prophetic vision and carried on a prophetic tradition. Public intellectual Cornel West distinguishes between Prophetic Christianity and a form he refers to as Constantinian Christianity that appears to be practiced by many of Englewood's Black ministers. According to West, Prophetic Christianity is "an ecumenical force for good [that continually reasserts itself] as the principles of public service, care for the poor, and the separation of church and state that this Christianity demands." In contrast, Constantinian Christianity "has much to do with the cozy alliance of Constantianian Christian leaders with the political elites beholden to corporate interests who provide shelter for cronyism." This is the brand that seems to resemble that practiced by far too many Black ministers in Englewood who seem all too willing to sell their congregants' votes for a new building extension or a patronage job for their wives in the Englewood school system. And Mr. Ferriero knows this fact all too well.

This past week, Bergen County Democratic Organization Boss Joe Ferriero endorsed Rev. Vernon Walton for County Freeholder, making sure everyone knew that the politically obscure Walton would become the first African-American to hold that office. 

The Boss issued this heartwarming communiqué:

What's most important is the Democratic Party has always been a party of inclusion, a party that is there to work for the under privileged, to work for seniors, to improve education.

Well, isn't that special!

Cloaking his BCDO pay-to-play operation in the progressive mantle of the National Democratic Party brand does seem a canny, if baldly bogus, marketing ploy for Ferriero.  Seasoned Record columnist Mike Kelly has joined others in finding their bogometers pinned to red, writing:

How ironic. Ferriero, the epitome of closed-door politics, is trying to portray himself as an inclusive liberal who invites blacks into his circle. Don't believe it.

Walton, who is also a Baptist minister, was a Ferriero ally when he was an Englewood councilman. And that alliance cost Walton his councilman's job. He was defeated in 2006 by another African-American, Gordon Johnson, who just happens to also be a state assemblyman and an opponent of Ferriero's boss-like rule of county Democrats. (Record, 1/20/08)

By announcing his choice of Walton, Mr. Ferriero intends to give Bergen County's first African-American Freeholder the inspiring opportunity to steer no-bid contracts back to Mr. Ferriero's political donors.  Perhaps only in New Jersey could a Party Boss proudly promote this as a socio-political milestone.
But, in our democracy,  how significant is Joe Ferriero's endorsement, really? 

Ferriero's endorsement carries near-absolute influence among the 1,100 members of the Democratic County Committee, who will gather by early February to choose an occupant for the seat... Other candidates may also enter the race. But members of the county committee, many of whom are county employees and elected Democratic officials, are expected to overwhelmingly back Ferriero's choice. (Record, 1/16/08)

It's the least they'd better do for their patron.  After all, they owe their livelihood to him! 

This kind of raw consolidation of power through dispensing patronage jobs, public money and quid pro quos is not new.  And it is not new in Rev. Walton's public sector résumé.

Back in 2002 (Record, 10/22/02), Rev. Walton, a relative newcomer to Englewood, obtained a controversial part-time position as a nebulous "community liaison" for Superintendent John Grieco at $37,500 for ten months' work. What work product was expected and what value was gotten is not known. But Walton's contentious employment was certainly advocated for by Grieco's County employer, Bergen County Tech School Board Trustee and Ferriero associate Jack Drakeford.   

In 2003 (Record, 6/24/04), County Boss Ferriero then enlisted Rev. Walton as an Englewood City Council candidate over the choice of our city's Democratic Municipal Committee.  Englewood's Democrats had selected longtime resident, community activist and African-American health professional Dr. Earl Marsan.  In 2004, (Record, 6/3/04) Ferriero exercised his power over ballot positions by banishing the rebellious Englewood Democrats to the Lyndon LaRouche column (there's that name again!).

In 2004, Joe Ferriero appointed Rev. Walton to the Ramapo College Board of Trustees. At that time, machine Democrats were trying to install Hudson County politico Joe Doria as Ramapo College President over the objections of a broad coalition of students, citizens and professors. (Record, 12/21/04)

In 2007, Ferriero acolyte Mayor Michael Wildes put Rev. Walton on the Englewood Planning Board, where Walton voted in lockstep with Wildes' Board in granting variances and tax deals to Mr. Ferriero's original clients, Hekemian, Kasparian, Troast.  The extraordinary timeline of this project can be seen at our "Duck Test" article.

Rev. Walton's three year term as a City Councilman from 2004 to 2006 was undistinguished.   According to a former colleague, Councilman Walton almost never opened his mouth except to vote with the Ferriero bloc of Drakeford and Bern.  Despite his County machine support, Vernon Walton lost his reelection bid to Gordon Johnson by an overwhelming margin.

I sincerely hope that when confronted with the inevitable conflict between serving the public interest and serving the Boss's interests, Freeholder Walton will choose the former.  But, if history is any guide, he has already seen what other ambitious politicians have experienced: the smoothest and most profitable road up New Jersey's political slagheap runs through a toll plaza controlled by a County Boss. The other road, the road too often not taken, is the risky road of public service integrity and courageous independence.

John Clagett worked as a senior designer at the office of Frank Gehry and Associates and is the principal of the firm John Clagett, Architect.  The director of the Center for Ecumenical Research in the Arts and Sciences, Mr. Clagett was awarded a Fulbright Commission Senior Research Grant for his ongoing research into the philosophical and mathematical meaning in the religious architecture of the west. Mr. Clagett is an avid naturalist, photographer and 4-year resident of Englewood.

I have been asked to contribute a column to The Englewood Report. I take this invitation by the paper's editors as a great privilege: it offers me the opportunity to share my thoughts and observations with my close and not so close Englewood neighbors, and in turn to hear their reactions.  But I take the Englewood Report's invitation also as a solemn responsibility. I say this, for Englewood is now facing a number of crises, each of which have the potential to desecrate our town.

I admit that it might seem highfalutin to describe the current fix that Englewood, New Jersey is in as a "desecration" of the city.  For if what our eyes tell us is reality, we may accept that Englewood is nothing more than another small city to be aesthetically ignored and economically exploited.  After all, Englewood is in a state whose residents are called the "bridge and tunnel crowd" and whose most well known family is the emblematic Sopranos. And then there's the sarcastic joke: "Which Jersey Turnpike exit do you live off?" All these and plenty more socio-pop dismissals of NJ municipalities render Englewood as the civic equivalent of a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee. This metaphorical stimulant, with its styrofoam cup being disposable, is meant just to keep you awake and on the phone, preferably on the way to an Atlantic City casino.

In my next blog, I will take on such derisive slurs of our city and our state. I will counter that Englewood and New Jersey should instead be held as hallowed ground by all Americans and deserving of great care, worthy of being nurtured with a high degree of financial and creative resources. This is surely an idea whose time has come for Englewood, as it is for the rest of our state and country.

Related viewing:
James Howard Kunstler – The Tragedy of Suburbia

Related reading:
Le Corbusier – When the Cathedrals Were White
Plato – The Republic

This writer served on the Englewood City Council thirty years ago when there was still a functioning local Republican Party and there were still elected Republican Council members. The controlling Democratic majority was regularly subjected to partisan criticism from within the Council, in public meetings, and in the press. Partisan controversy is indeed a normal condition in most Bergen County communities where both parties are represented on their governing bodies. In Englewood, however, with negligible exceptions, all mayors and council members have been Democrats in recent decades. Where there have been significant issues dividing the community, they have tended to be reflected in shifting divisions within the Democratic Party.

At the present time, there is what appears to be a larger division in the local Democratic Party than ever before, to the point where it resembles an old-fashioned inter-party confrontation. To attend a City Council meeting and observe the conduct of Mayor Wildes and Councilman Drakeford, an outside observer would be amazed to be told that they and the other council members are nominally all Democrats. What is going on?

As is often the case in political controversy, the fundamental dividing issue is control. As of January, 2006, with a change in one City Council seat (in the First Ward), control of the Council, and of the local government, shifted from a group associated with Bergen County Democratic boss Joe Ferriero to a group opposed to his control. Political control means the ability to award contracts, to make appointments, to nominate candidates for office, and in general to reward your friends and punish your enemies. It is not gladly relinquished.

Then, in order to govern effectively, the controlling majority in this atmosphere may need to use some of the old techniques. These include: 1) working closely together to agree on its positions before confronting the opposition, 2) careful counting of votes before introducing controversial legislation, 3) patience in the face of clearly unfair partisan attacks.

The power center of the Ferriero faction is in Englewood’s Fourth Ward. Wildes as Mayor and Drakeford as Councilman received Independent challenges in the, respectively, 2006 and 2007 elections, and both were reelected with significant Fourth Ward support. The voters in the Fourth Ward have apparently been convinced that Wildes and Drakeford represent their best interests, and that those interests are somehow different from those in the other three wards. Issues such as the possible reinstatement of former Police Chief Bowman have been irrationally inflamed in order to reinforce this notion.

An objective observer would note that Wildes has never demonstrated support for any interest except his own political advancement, and that most of the irresponsible development which so disturbs many residents took place when the City Council was under Drakeford’s control.

As you may remember, Lloyd Fields is the encarcerated prisoner and family friend of David Bowman whom then Chief Bowman escorted out of jail in 2003.  This "faked furlough affair" was the beginning of the years long legal adventure that Mr. Bowman endured at the hands of the Bergen County Prosecutor's office.

It is now 2008 and Mr. Fields is again in the news.  This time, he is facing felony charges stemming from the latest in "…a long line of run-ins with the police" ( p.3, Suburbanite, 1/9/08).  To make things predictably complicated, Mr. Fields is now claiming that what occurred was a police assault on him, not his assault on police.  

Whatever the outcome of the new Fields controversy, we will say this: isn't it time for our police department to have patrol cars with video recording equipment?  At just $1500 per patrol car, the avoidance of expensive lawsuits and civic distrust would certainly be worth this modest investment.

Englewood is one of the most diverse towns in all of Bergen County and its food shows it. Below we've listed some of our city's very best. Please write us with your own favorites. In the meantime, here are some of ours:

• Varsha Foods (Indian) 10-12 Humphrey St. 
Owned by locals Paul and Bhavna Chhabria, this store is a marvel of exotic spices, fresh foods, sweets and treats, Indian movies and music as well as incredible, inexpensive frozen foods that can make the usual dinner a quick gourmet feast.  The owners are happy to consult and lead you to new food experiences.  Just browsing through the spices and merchandise in this store is enlightening.

• Zeytinia Fine Food Marketplace (Whole Foods meets Zabars) 10 W. Palisade Ave
This incredible addition to downtown Englewood means that we have both Jerry's (see below) at the south end of town and Zeytinia's at the center.  From truffle oil to fabulous prepared food to the best fresh fish and meat, you can get what you didn't even know you needed at this extraordinary store.  With an amazing self-service cold buffet that you can eat on the premises, quality fast food was never this good. Not to be missed.

• Broadway Cafe (Colombian coffee, pastries and more) 85 W. Palisade Ave
Luis Grajales' cafe is a bright, cheery hangout. With coffee and a dizzying array of homemade pastries, empanadas and more, this gives Englewoodians a real taste of the best in Colombian hospitality and energy.  The staff is great and the Boss is there to make sure it all keeps humming.  See if you can resist taking a large bag of pastries home. I dare you.

• Balthazar Bakery (The Mother of All Bakeries) 214 South Dean
Hand-crafted baked goods are made for Keith McNally's famous Paris-inspired brasserie in Manhattan.  Get the goods before he does right here on Dean St.  With Balthazar Bakery, you can jump to the head of the line.

• Central City Coffee (The Best Cup of Joe in the City) 39 E. Palisade
If Starbucks coffee is a Buick, Kenny's place is a Cadillac.  Manhattan, stand aside.  CCC is a jam-packed magazine/candy stand/coffee palace. You won't lack for things to browse or conversations to have, as you never know who you'll bump into while getting the best cup of coffee in town.

• Jerry's Gourmet (Zabars meets Balducci's) 410 S. Dean
If you haven't gone there, don't ask....just go.  At crowded times it might be an adventure to park,  but it is always worth the trip.  The best sandwiches and prepared foods imaginable. Pick up your lunch or dinner.  Jerry's has an amazing array of cheeses, oils, vinegars and Italian specialties. Cheap and expensive exotic food and wine everywhere. Chocolate, beauty supplies, vodkas you've never heard of...whatta joint!  If they don't have it, you might not need it.

• La Cumbia (Colombian diner) 2 W. Palisade Ave at the RR crossing.
Order "la paisita" (6 bucks) and see if you can finish it.  The most reasonably priced great food in town, it looks like a humble diner but has superb fare.  Take home the ribs, the chicken, the tripe soup, the... we could go on.  But a feast at well under 10 bucks a head is worth shouting about. And their rice and beans are outrageous and the portions are huge!   Added bonus: the friendly staff will help you with your Spanish.  The lesson is free.

• Ruthie Mae's (Authentic Soul Food) 90 W. Palisade Ave on Armory St.
Bless you, owner Carl Redding!  We've been needing this and now we have it.  From waffles, grits, beans, ribs, chicken, chitlins, collard greens and more, Ruthie Mae's delivers the goods. With BergenPAC and Ruthie Mae's, we have the Apollo Experience right here in Englewood. The friendly and attentive staff makes sitting down or taking out a welcoming experience.

• Han Ah Reum (Korean SuperStore) 25 Lafayette Ave
Anthony Bourdain, world famous food adventurer and Dwight Englewood alum, would have a field day here.   See the familiar and unfamiliar, as you wander the aisles and take in the scene.  The fish department alone is worth the trip. The ultimate travel experience without the airfare.  Parking is easy and accessible on Lafayette, the street with the Lukoil station at the monument.

Mayor Michael Wildes has loudly and publicly expressed his righteous indignation over City Councilman Gordon Johnson's past donations to an anti-Bush group affiliated with Lyndon LaRouche. Quoting The Record (11/1/07):

Michael Wildes, the Democratic mayor of Englewood, where Johnson is also a city councilman, called on Johnson to resign from his council seat Tuesday, saying there is no way to reconcile a donation to a candidate as divisive as LaRouche.

Quoting from Mr. Wildes' own website:

As most of us who are remotely aware of politics in the United States know, Mr. LaRouche has espoused divisive and hate filled charges and conspiracies against homosexuals, Jews, the Royal family, leading Democrats, and more throughout his three decades on the national stage. I found it difficult to comprehend how Mr. Johnson would somehow have been unaware of any of that at age 57, especially as a politician.

Well, according to a Democratic Committeewoman in Ridgefield Park, our Mayor hasn't always been in such high dudgeon over Mr. LaRouche and his supporters.

We invite you to Google the following:  Nancy Guice, Ridgefield Park. The top link, entitled "Stop NJ Election Lynching," should prove enlightening.  Incidentally, Ms. Guice appeared at a recent Englewood City Council meeting to publicly confront the Mayor who was, conveniently (or fortunately), absent.

 Quoting her from the webpage (emphasis added):

Having met Mr. Wildes 2 years ago, I was shocked to read in "The Record" that he had called for Gordon Johnson's resignation for supporting the divisive (sic) policies of Lyndon LaRouche. When Mr. Wildes called me personally to solicit my and my husband's support for his campaign, (we were Democratic Party County Committeemen), two years ago, I asked him if he was aware of our association with Lyndon LaRouche. I was happy with his response when he said, "that's WHY I'm calling you". He had prefaced his request with the notion that his campaign was to clean up corruption in the Bergen County Democratic Party. Apparently, he recognized that support from two activists in LaRouche's movement, would be synonomous with routing out corruption in the local Democratic Party, and he was right. He sought our support then, but now pretends to not know us. Pretty rotten, huh?

In the Age of Google, a politician's hypocrisy is just a mouse click away.

Issue: 

On November 20, the City Council introduced an ordinance that would allow it to negotiate up to a year's severance pay to attract qualified, independent city manager candidates.  The ordinance was designed to allay concerns of qualified candidates, well aware of Englewood's adversarial political climate and concerned about being fired for political reasons within five years of being hired by the current Council.  Thus, the previous cap of three months severance pay was extended, for negotiating purposes, to 12 months.  

On December 17, Mayor Wildes vetoed the proposed ordinance labeling it a "golden parachute" for a city employee.  Mayor Wildes kept his veto a secret until after the Council's final 2007 meeting.  On December 26, the Council conducted an emergency meeting to override his veto before the year's end (The Bergen Record, 12/27/07).  


Facts: 

• November 20: Ordinance 07-33 (12 month severance ordinance) is introduced. No comment from Mayor or public.
• December 11: Ordinance 07-33 is discussed officially in public session. Mayor has no comment. One member of public (Curtis Caviness) dislikes the ordinance because it doesn't provide additional severance to all city employees.
• December 16: Mayor writes letter vetoing ordinance.
• December 17: Mayor signs veto and has it notarized. Mayor keeps this a secret.
• December 18: Mayor continues to keep his veto a secret at the already scheduled council meeting.
• December 20: The Mayor hand delivers his veto to the city clerk shortly before he leaves town for two weeks.


Commentary:

It is clear from the timeline of events that Mayor Wildes intended to hide his veto from the Council until after it was on holiday recess.  Why?  Because the severance pay ordinance would have died on December 31 if his veto was not overridden by the Council, forcing the Council to stall its hiring of a new city manager.  Yet, the Council went back to work the day after Christmas to ensure the hiring process would continue unabated.  

Now the Mayor is slamming the Council for overriding his veto while he was on vacation, despite deliberately hiding his veto until after the last Council meeting.

Furthermore, the Mayor is claiming that his veto was issued to defend the public treasury against the Council.  (Download a PDF of his veto here)  Yet, the Council was forced to step in during its holiday recess in order to prevent the Mayor from stalling the appointment of a new city manager and forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for a prolonged search for a qualified, independent candidate.

In fact, this is not the first time the City Council has been forced to clean up after the Mayor's reckless fiscal behavior.  It was only last August that the City Council majority defended the taxpayers against a multimillion dollar tax giveaway that the Mayor and his Planning Board gifted to HKT, the developers of the South of Route 4 construction project.  (Download a PDF of the Council majority's press release here)

It has become evident to everyone, including Michael Wildes, that a decade of incessant celebrity photo ops, ribbon cuttings, ceremonial grandstanding, vanity magazine articles, mayoral costumes (including his blue windbreaker with the word "Mayor" emblazoned on its chest) and campaign fundraisers has failed to move him out of Englewood and up the New Jersey political foodchain to Trenton or Washington.  Now, it appears that Mr. Wildes is resorting to some political arson to spice up his aging act.

The most recent faux fire that Wildes has set can be spotted in the pages of the December 22 Record ("Mayor vetoes increase in severance pay"), running as a double feature with the Englewood police chief spectacle he also inflames. In this latest performance art piece, Wildes continues his public attacks on the Council majority for not hiring a full-time City Manager while he actively works to prevent them from having the ability to do so. 

As City Councilman Ken Rosenzweig explains in The Record article:

This (severance package) is to get someone here and not be worried that a couple months later, or a year later, if political winds change, they wouldn't find themselves without a job.

What "political winds?"  Take a look at the following:
 
If Mr. Wildes can draw enough voters into his reality distortion field and fool them into blaming the independent-minded Council for the fires he himself stokes and sets, the stirred up "political winds" might just blow in a Council more friendly to a certain someone that Mr. Wildes desperately wants to impress.  A certain someone who would appreciate getting his pay-to-play crony hired as Englewood City Manager.  Someone who, not coincidentally, owns the particular ballot position on the Democratic Party line Mr. Wildes so desperately covets.  And, if past experience is any guide, our Mayor doesn't want another repeat as the designated fall guy who gets sacrificed to popular and powerful Senator Loretta Weinberg.

Can't you just feel Bergen County Democratic Organization Boss Joe Ferriero's growing appreciation for Mr. Wildes' mischief and showmanship in a State Assembly kind of way?

Here we go again...Lights, camera, smile!

At the end of Spike Lee's School Daze, one of the main characters screams "Wake Up!" Some have contended that the call is prophetic and an admonition to contemporary Black America to awaken from its political slumber and spiritual nihilism. It serves as a plea for us to work past our apathy and more fully participate in the American democratic project.

Too many days, however, I awaken with the same words on my lips. But, my target audience is different. It is Englewood's citizenry. Since the full release of Governor Corzine's proposed school funding formula on December 12th, various groups (including parents of special education students and the State NAACP), school administrators (like Ringwood's School Superintendent Patrick Martin in the December 26th edition of The Record) and politicians like Bogota's Mayor Steve Lonegan (also featured in the Record's December 26th edition) have contributed to the public dialogue regarding plausible implications of the proposed bill for their respective constituencies.

Noticeably absent from this debate are Englewood public officials, school administrators, and community activists. I guess David Bowman's reinstatement and an ominous severance package for a yet unidentified, incoming City Manager take precedent over our 2,783 school children (as per the 2005-2006 National Center for Education Statistics); most of whom are Black and Latino. Like Lot's wife, Englewood seems stuck in place peering back at its past rather than strategizing for the future and Englewood's future is inextricably linked to its children and the education they receive in our public schools. Who is advocating on behalf of Englewood's children?

For those who might counter that Englewood hasn't taken this cause up because it will see an increase (even if it is so modest that it can barely be detected), I counter that there is great cause for alarm. Englewood, like Ringwood, is scheduled to receive a 2% increase in state school aid next year and it will not lose aid for the three years following, if the Governor's formula is made into law.

The new school funding formula has been praised for increasing total state aid to schools by approximately $533 million, or 7%, to $7.8 billion. If the bill is passed during the lame duck session of the legislature (ending on January 7th), a number of other school districts throughout the state will receive 10-20% increases. The debate is further complicated when one considers that Bergen County, with a single Abbott district, will emerge a winner with an overall projected 13% increase in state aid next year. As so many of us are aware of the Englewood school system's great need, why are we receiving so little? Further, after the three year period during which we're "held harmless," then what?

There is a method to the Governor's madness, however, in attempting to push the plan through during the lame duck session. First of all, many constituents view property tax relief as opposed to "helping somebody else's children" through the Abbott decision a no-brainer. The Abbott decision stems from a 1981 lawsuit filed on behalf of children in the state's poorest school districts and by the nonprofit Education Law Center.

The feature of the new school funding plan related to Abbott is the most controversial with its substitution for and replacement of New Jersey's court mandated "Abbott" initiative.

By aggressively pushing his school funding proposal, Corzine most likely sees himself as bypassing partisan bickering and advancing his 'ready, aim, shoot" management style.

While I understand the dilemma with which the Governor is faced, I don't agree with his approach of foisting his school funding formula on us without there being adequate time for parents, educators, teacher unions, school administrators and education scholars to weigh in. I would also like to see Englewood takes its rightful place at the table during the vetting process.

Most people have not read the 106-page document. I have and, even with specialized training in the fields of education and schooling, the plan (with its attendant formulas and lengthy explications) proves unduly complex and laborious to read. There is a need for both more careful scrutiny and consequential dialogue. If those needs go unmet, the school funding formula will go by way of the asset monetization plan. It will look like just another ploy in which the Governor advocates for transparency, but displays little of it.

At a meeting of the Englewood Historical Society on January 9, Sondra (Sandy) Greenberg, Mayor of Englewood in the years 1976-1982, will present a program on her seven eventful and historic years in office. Englewood’s only woman mayor was in office when major changes in our community took place. The decline in our downtown business district was reversed. The John Harms Center (now bergenPAC) opened. The new Public Safety Building was completed. The Englewood Historical Society was founded. Englewood’s form of government was modernized by a new City Charter.

The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 PM, Wednesday, January 9, in the Mackay Room of the Englewood Public Library. The public is welcome.

After receiving numerous complaints from constituents about the management of two federally subsidized public housing organizations, Councilman at Large Gordon M. Johnson has addressed letters to appropriate state and federal officials requesting that financial audits and other pertinent information be made available. The letters are dated December 26, 2007.

The targets of the housing probe include the Greater Englewood Housing Corporation, which manages the Rock Creek development in the Second Ward and the Park View development in the Fourth Ward, and Martin Luther King Gardens, which manages two projects in the Fourth Ward. These projects were a key element in Englewood's extensive urban renewal program which took place in the early 1970's.

Johnson's letters report allegations of financial problems due to uncollected rents, declining maintenance, waiting lists for apartments being ignored, and an absence of on-site professional management. The outside management firm, which had been in place for many years, was terminated a year or more ago, and complaints reportedly have escalated since then. The projects are not a direct responsibility of the City government, but Johnson is taking steps to insure that Federal and State regulations are being properly observed.